Outcomes for facilitators of workplace environment improvement applying a participatory approach

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine changes in awareness, behavior, and relationships among facilitators who were involved in facilitating the conduct of the participatory workplace improvement program and to examine the facilitators' outcomes as a result of their active involvement in the program. The outcome components were also examined in relationship to their associations with various factors. Methods An anonymous self‐administered questionnaire survey was conducted for 83 facilitators. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to determine the facilitators' outcomes. The relationship between those elements which influenced the outcomes was taken into account by means of hierarchal multiple regression analysis. Results The outcomes for facilitators consisted of four sub‐concepts: “knowing practical ways and strategies to ensure full participation,” “building confidence and self‐development,” “improving safety and health‐risk sensitivity,” and “gaining better‐than‐expected results based on developing relationships with workers.” According to the results of hierarchal multiple regression analysis, facilitators' outcomes were significantly associated with the realization of creativity, sense of solution for safety and health issues, and facilitators' involvement. Conclusions It is suggested that the role of a facilitator dynamically changes through a participatory workplace improvement program as a key person in the workplace. Supporting acting facilitators' initiatives in the process of workplace improvement programs, as well as promoting the active involvement of workers and managers were considered useful for effective implementation of workplace improvement programs.

The Impact of the Direct Participation of Workers on the Rates of Absenteeism in the Spanish Labor Environment

“…In this sense, the following external determinants can be identified: macrocontextual factors, related to policies and systems of legal regulation of occupational health [28,29], such as the capacity of representatives and workers to paralyze productive activity in the face of serious or imminent risk [30]; the promotion of regulations that reward the integration of the prevention management system through its own means to facilitate participation [31]; the promotion of participation through the requirements of the labour inspection [32], regulations that do not systematically make technicians responsible for the prevention of accidents in companies to prevent expert knowledge from blocking participation [33]; or the promotion of policies for the representation of interests that facilitate decentralised self-regulation through the participation of autonomous trade unions [27,34]. The internal factors that influence the effectiveness of participation are business leadership and willingness to promote a participatory culture [35][36][37][38][39][40]; training and empowerment of workers and their representatives to collectively challenge unsafe situations [37][38][39]; the size of the workplace and the sector of activity to the extent that participation is greater in larger workplaces and in industries where occupational risks are more evident [18,27,41]; in addition, greater capacity for participation will exist when specialized occupational health representation is unionized [42] or has strong external support from the union [43,44].…”

Multidimensional analysis of schoolteachers’ occupational stress by the New Brief Job Stress Questionnaire: focusing on gender differences

“…They found that teams that had developed action plans through an employee's active participation exhibited a larger increase in workplace social capital than did other teams 48) . This participatory style of program was also identified as an effective and practical method for promoting comprehensive risk management among both workers and employers 49) . Offering a workplace improvement program, in which an individual teacher actively participates in the planning process, should be considered to foster a cohesive workplace environment and the consequent positive mental health among individual teachers.…”

The Systematic Workplace-Improvement Needs Generation (SWING): Verifying a Worker-Centred Tool for Identifying Necessary Workplace Improvements in a Nursing Home in Japan

“…SWING identifies workplace-improvement needs from the workers' perspective, providing valuable information for establishing a participatory work improvement that promotes occupational safety and health and comprehensive risk management for both workers and employers [23]. Thus, we believe that the rich data provided by SWING can help promote occupational safety, health, and management.…”